On Tuesday in El Segundo, L.A. returned from the All-Star break; here’s an update on each player either returning from injury or still in line to miss games moving forward:

JODIE MEEKS:
Meeks sprained his ankle on Feb. 4 in the first quarter at Minnesota and missed the remaining five games prior to the All-Star break, but is the lone Laker expected to return from the pre-break injured list against Houston on Wednesday. Meeks said the ankle was feeling good, and he’s ready to play.

KOBE BRYANT:
According to the Lakers, Kobe Bryant continues to have swelling and pain in his knee, and thus does not have an MRI scheduled in the immediate future. Bryant was last examined prior to the Lakers vs. Pacers game on Jan. 28, when a similar conclusion on the left knee where he suffered a fracture at Memphis on Dec. 17 was reached. His subsequent rehabilitation has been limited mostly to work on a stationary bike. Bryant recently addressed the media in advance of the 2014 All-Star Game on Sunday and gave another general update on where he’s at in his recovery and rehab process.

PAU GASOL:
Gasol practiced in full on Tuesday, and said afterwards that he felt “a lot better,” if still not 100 percent in his first action in approximately two weeks. He’ll most likely be listed as “questionable” for Wednesday’s game, waiting to see how his body responds to Tuesday’s work out. Gasol underwent an MRI on Feb. 1, which revealed a strained right groin. He received a PRP injection on Feb. 3, but was sidelined for the team’s last six games before the All-Star break.

JORDAN FARMAR:
Farmar is listed as “doubtful” for Wednesday’s game despite practicing in full on Tuesday. He returned from a one-month absence at Cleveland on Feb. 5 before exiting with cramps in his calf. He was listed as day-to-day, according to coach Mike D’Antoni, but missed the final five games leading up to the All-Star break. Two separate hamstring tears kept him out of most of December and January, and the left hamstring got tight once again in that win at Cleveland. Post practice, Farmar acknowledged the hamstring “feels fine,” and remains optimistic he will be back on the court soon.

XAVIER HENRY:
Henry had his right knee drained of fluid and received a cortisone shot on Feb. 12, and expected to be out another four weeks. He originally injured his knee on Dec. 29 vs. Philly, but is expected to be re-evaluated on Friday.

NICK YOUNG:
Young injured his left knee at Cleveland on Feb. 5 and underwent an MRI the following day in Philly. He was diagnosed with a non-displaced fracture of the patella and a bone bruise, and expected to be out a minimum of two weeks before being re-evaluated. Young was unable to practice on Tuesday, and will not play against Houston.

Nash was forced to leave the Lakers-Bulls game with five minutes in the third quarter after making contact with Kirk Hinrich near the same spot where he suffered the original lower left leg fracture last season.

He went through the non-physical portion of practice on Monday and acknowledged he felt much better, good enough to where he was able to suit up vs. Utah.

He played in six of the Lakers first eight games to begin the 2013-14 season before being sidelined the next 39 contests. He returned on the team’s three-game road trip starting at Minnesota and at Philly, totaling 26 points and 14 assists.

Steve Nash exited the Lakers-Bulls game with five minutes remaining in the third quarter with nerve irritation, according to Lakers PR. He did not return, finishing with eight points, two rebounds and two assists in 21 minutes.

“I think he’ll be OK on Tuesday,” coach Mike D’Antoni said. “We’ll see. Just a freak bump of knees and his back started tightening up a little bit.”

Postgame, Nash explained he made contact with Kirk Hinrich in the same spot the nerve root issue had bothered him before.

“That nerve flared up and I started to compensate,” Nash said. “I wasn’t going to be very effective and I wasn’t going to risk going back on all that work I’ve done to get back on the court.”

Nash returned at Minnesota on Feb. 4, his first game action since Nov. 10, finishing with nine points and seven assists. He sat out the next night at Cleveland (rest), but played at Philly on his 40th birthday, recording a game-high 19 points, to go along with five assists and four rebounds.

“We know the player he was and the player he is now,” Kendall Marshall said. “He’s still a great player. We’ve seen the last game. But first and foremost, we want him to be healthy. We still look to him as a leader on this team, whether he’s on the court or not, and we hope he gets back (soon).”

Though Steve Nash and Steve Blake both returned and started for the Lakers at Minnesota, the team lost Jodie Meeks (ankle) and Jordan Hill (cervical strain and headache) early in the first quarter.

Meeks played a minute-and-a-half before leaving for good after going up for a jump shot and landing on Corey Brewer’s foot. Postgame, coach Mike D’Antoni acknowledged the shooting guard would be miss the final two games of the road trip at Cleveland and at Philadelphia.

Jodie Meeks sprained his right ankle, coming down on Brewer's foot, and will not return. Blake has 2 PF's, Young's playing SG.

Hill was on the floor for three-and-a-half minutes before being elbowed by teammate Chris Kaman. D’Antoni stated postgame the team held him out the rest of the game for precautionary reasons. His status is uncertain for Wednesday’s contest at Cleveland.

Both Meeks and Hill are the only Lakers to appear in all 48 games thus far this season.

Pau Gasol, who was diagnosed with a strained right groin on Saturday, received a PRP (platelet-rich plasma) injection on Monday to stimulate healing.

Gasol acknowledged on Thursday post practice that he started feeling pain in the affected area during the Grammy road trip. He labored through the Charlotte game at home on Friday, and came out of halftime late, but still managed to play 33 minutes.

The 7-foot Spaniard finished January with averages of 20.8 points, 11.9 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.7 blocks on 51.0 percent field goals and ended the month with 10 consecutive games of at least 20 points.

A plethora of injuries have made a bigger impact on the 2013-14 Lakers season than perhaps anything else, with starters Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash leading the games-missed train with 40 of the 46 apiece on the shelf.

In fact, L.A.’s 153 total games missed this season easily lead the NBA, and are 16 more than second-place Milwaukee and 42 more than the squad with the third most (New York, 111). Here’s a list of some of the most injury-plagued squads (and least injured):

Upon returning from their seven-game, 12-day road trip, the Lakers received plenty of news on the injury front after practice on Monday.

According to team spokesman, John Black, everything “went well” for Steve Nash in Vancouver while working with his trainer/physical therapist during the team’s 12-day road trip. Nash was expected to go through practice on Monday, but unrelatedly “tweaked his back,” and thus, did not participate.

“The plan for him is to have a practice on Thursday and he’s basically day-to-day,” Black said. “We’ll update you on whether he’ll play Friday based on how Thursday’s practice goes.”

Nash has been sidelined since Nov. 12 with nerve root irritation. Coach Mike D’Antoni remains hopeful the two-time MVP can return to the court again this season.

“I hope so,” D’Antoni said. “I hope for him. If anybody can do it, he can.”
Both Steve Blake (elbow) and Jordan Farmar (hamstring) have not been cleared for full practices yet, but are able to participate in basketball-related activities, as the two went through today.

“They’ll continue to ramp up through the week as they progress,” Black said. “Neither will play Tuesday or Friday, but the plan on them is to ramp up practices this week and we’ll update both of them at the end of this week.”

Blake was diagnosed with a torn collateral ligament in his right elbow and has been out since Dec. 13. Farmar, meanwhile, has been out since Jan. 3 after suffering a tear in his left hamstring. The UCLA product hurt the same hamstring earlier in the year, but this tear was in a different location. Post practice, Farmar was pleased to just get back on the court with his teammates.

“It was great,” he said. “I’ve been bored. That’s been the hardest thing. With this injury, you don’t feel too injured. It’s not painful; you don’t feel hurt. Just having to sit down, be patient and wait your turn, especially seeing them struggle, I just want to be out there and contribute.”

Xavier Henry (knee strain) went through some on-court work in Miami and was expected to be out another 10-14 days, but visited with a doctor today. There is no new update regarding his injury.

Both Pau Gasol (toe) and Jodie Meeks (foot) did not practice on Monday, but both are expected to play on Tuesday against Indiana.

Jodie Meeks saw a specialist today for his sore foot. MRI was negative for a fracture. He’s probable for tomorrow against Indiana.

Henry recently went through some on-court work on Wednesday in Miami, doing some running, lateral slide drills and shooting, but did not participate in practice.

“I’m feeling better,” Henry told Lakers.com’s Mike Trudell after his workout. “I’m not where I want to be but nobody is expecting me right now, so I’m out here, I’m doing drills, being able to move around, run, jump, cut and things like that. I just want to get to pain free and then we’ll go from there.”

Although Henry acknowledged he’s feeling better, there is no hard return date in mind.

“I really just have to go day-by-day,” he explained. “Tomorrow I’ll see if it’s sore or how sore, and then we’ll either ramp it up or we’ll continue what we’re on. But we need to be on a path to at least be steady to get me back.”

Henry originally hurt his knee in the first quarter against Philly on Dec. 29. He was later diagnosed with a bone bruise and an abnormality of the lateral meniscus.

The Kansas product recently went through his first extensive on-court workout on Sunday. Henry, however, experienced soreness in the area and was ruled out of Tuesday’s game vs. Cleveland. He will continue to do non-weight bearing exercises, but will not ramp up his workouts.

The Lakers embark on their annual Grammy road trip after the Cavs game, which covers seven games in 12 days. Henry will miss at Phoenix, at Boston, at Toronto and at Chicago. He will then be re-evaluated, at which point another prognosis will be assessed.